Be Good To Your Own Soul

"Be lovers of your soul." (St. Clare of Assisi)

Are you good to your own soul?  Interestingly, the Bible tells us how to be good to our own souls.  "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul."  Proverbs 11:17.

It seems as if the Bible is saying we are good to ourselves when we're good to others.  Hmmm.... Eugene Peterson paraphrased that verse this way:  "When you're kind to others, you help yourself; when you're cruel to others, you hurt yourself." 

In order to be good to our own souls, we are good to others' souls.  Granting kindness to others benefits our own souls just as a gardener benefits by doing good to his garden.  As the garden receives from the gardener, it then gives back. It bears fruit that brings pleasure and nourishment.  When we give to others, we give to ourselves.  When we are stingy with our benefits, we deprive our own souls of the satisfaction and richness that only comes from showing kindness to others.  Be a lover of your soul and do good to your own soul by doing good to others.  If you feel your soul is lacking today, then give. 

"...if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."   Isaiah 58:10-11 NIV

Taken from: Java with Jennifer (Jennifer Rothschild)